What She Left Behind
by G13
Summary: 2000 missing children are reported a day in the USA. Rachel Berry joins that number, leaving behind a single shoe, two heartbroken parents, an angry Finn Hudson, and Quinn Fabray. Quinn blames herself for Rachel going missing and shaped by her guilt Quinn finds new unexpected purposes & focuses in life. One sided Faberry, Coming of Age/Mystery
1. Day 1

Quinn Fabray couldn't keep herself from stealing glances at Rachel Berry's bare legs. She hated herself every time she did, but just couldn't help herself.

Hating herself was not something new to Quinn.

Despite the increasingly cold fall weather, Berry barely wore tights or leggings or even those ridiculous knee socks. Quinn was positive it was some stupid, childish attempt to attract Finn's attention that she had read about in some 1950's teen vogue one of her gay dads kept around to remind him of the good ol' days.

Finn was a teenage boy.

He liked _boobs._

Still, Quinn had caught him looking at Berry's legs twice now so it was clearly kinda working. That meant Rachel Berry was going to continue to do it until either she froze to death or one of her dads realized what she was doing and forced her to cover those legs.

Quinn realized she had to pee -_again_, and that made her pull her eyes away from where the lacy tops of Berry's socks met her ankles and stare at Finn and Kurt as they made their way through whatever balled Kurt had decided they'd sing.

Kurt looked like he was about to start humping Finn's leg.

If Quinn wasn't peeing, then she was throwing up. Mrs. Hudson had bought crackers and ginger ale, which had made her feel terrible because Quinn didn't deserve _anyone_ being nice to her let alone Mrs. Hudson.

Quinn Fabray was a horrible person in general, but she was really topping herself by lying to Finn and his mom about the baby. Of course, the alternative was letting Lima Loser Puck continue the cycle of loserdom by being in the baby's life. At least with Finn as it's father, her baby would have a slightly better chance. Mostly she hoped that Finn was a sweet enough guy that maybe he could counteract the innate Fabray horribleness.

That was assuming she kept the baby and stayed stuck in Lima forever.

She didn't know what she was doing, not really. Something as simple as watching a commercial can make her change her mind. She hated it, but she can't help it. More than anything, she wished her family loved her enough to help her figure this out -she _needed_ their guidance. For all she is, was, and will be, Quinn is in _way_ over her head.

So for now, her energy goes towards ignoring the twisty feeling in her stomach when she's around Mrs. Hudson, avoiding Puck, and trying not to stare at Rachel freaking Berry instead of thinking about what will happen after the baby is born.

She needs to stop thinking about it, otherwise she's going to start crying. Quinn took a deep breath, vowing to herself that she wasn't going to look at Berry any more today.

Rachel Berry was just another way for Quinn to torture herself.

And she really didn't need more ways -she'd been driven from her family, her home, for four days now.

Her sister had very politely told Mrs. Hudson that Frannie was now an only child when Mrs. Hudson had called her.

And not only had her dad canceled her cell phone plan, he'd gone into her bank account and completely emptied it, which he could do because his name was on it too. All she had was the one hundred and twelve dollars in her wallet, and a bunch of change in the bottom of her purse.

She'd woken up this morning on Finn's lumpy bed (he'd been regulated to the couch in the living room), and weighted herself to find that she'd gained three pounds.

Mrs. Hudson had left fast food applications on the kitchen table for her and Finn to find.

(As if Quinn would work at _McDonald's_. Fabray women did _not _work menial jobs. Fabray women worked respectable jobs, if they worked at all. Disowned or not, Quinn was still a Fabray. Her daddy could _not_ take her name from her even if he took her family, money and phone.)

Someone, (she suspected Santana but it wasn't like Quinn didn't have plenty of enemies,) had started a rumor that Coach Tanaka was the father of her baby.

And people were _believing_ it.

It had only been about a few weeks since Coach Sylvester had kicked her off the Cheerios and made her pregnancy public. Quinn had been fading from the gossip circuit, so whoever had started that rumor had timed it well. Figuring out who it was, hunting them down and making them pay was on Quinn's list.

She doesn't ever allow herself to think about what ifs -especially not now that she's a pregnant unwed teen.

Life didn't work like the movies, all wrapped up in a bow with a happily ever after.

Quinn was _not_ gay.

She did _not _like other girls. She was not going to be a _dyke _on top of the next teenage mother.

No way.

She glared at Kurt -Finn may have forgiven him, but she wasn't ever going to for encouraging Finn to be even dumber than normal.

Kurt had ruined everything for her.

And he hadn't even bothered to apologize to _her_, just to _Finn_. Maybe the glee club's song to them the other day was his apology -it had made her cry, but that wasn't exactly hard to do right now.

He noticed her glaring at him, and faltered a little, missing a note.

She hoped Rachel had a lecture and five pages of notes to give to Kurt next glee club meeting. And maybe she'll send him a barrage of texts offering to tutor him all weekend too, annoying him so much he'd end up having to turn his phone off.

It wouldn't at all make up for getting her kicked out of her house -and then not even bothering to apologize to_ her_ for his part, but it was a start.

Thinking about it made her smile -and then, she realized not only was she smiling about Rachel doing something, but at Rachel Berry herself, she looked away, a frown marring her features. She settled on glaring at Kurt, angry at him, angry at Rachel -but mostly angry at herself.

She stood up, and stomped out for a bathroom break.

"That was really nice Kurt, Finn," Mr. Schue was saying when she came back into the room, everyone's claps dying down. "I know we've had our difficulties this week, but as long as we stay together, we'll be fine. We're stronger together then standing alone. I'll see you in class or at next week's practice. Um, Brittany I think you have your camera upside down...why do you have a camera any way?"

Rachel made a bee line to where she was just joining Finn. Rachel beamed at Finn, and gave him a look that made Quinn want to punch someone.

Preferably Finn.

Her stomach twisting, Quinn cleared her throat to get their attention. Finn looked at Quinn over Rachel's head guiltily as Rachel turned. The smile Rachel gave Quinn was a lot more toned down then the one she was just giving Finn.

Quinn wanted to throw up.

Addressing both of them, Rachel said, "Due to a miscommunication, I have no ride home. Normally I would enjoy the walk, but with the rain as heavy as it is, and the wind..." Rachel trailed off, and looked at Finn expectantly.

Before he could say anything, Quinn stepped forward, and with every ounce of nastiness she had, she snapped, "Go get one of your friends to give you a ride to your bridge Man Hands. Oh, right, you don't have _any._ Let's go Finn!" Then she grabbed Finn's hand, and pulled him away without a backward glance.

She was a horrible person. But she just couldn't spend the whole car ride watching Rachel flirt with Finn, and Finn awkwardly enjoy it while trying to not let Quinn _know_ he was enjoying it.

Quinn wasn't stupid. She knew Rachel wanted Finn, for whatever reason.

Quinn knew why she forced herself to want him; the head cheerleader dating the quarterback was expected, it was normal, and now, with the thing inside her, he was better father material then Puck, and by dating him he was the only way to hold onto what popularity she still had left.

It was purely strategic. Like most things in her life had been up until now.

Quinn would _never _understand why someone as amazing, as talented, as great as Rachel Berry wanted Finn Hudson.

Finn would just hold Rachel back from the greatness that Quinn knew Rachel would achieve one day.

She thought about it, about why on earth Rachel could see in Finn that she couldn't see in Quinn -not that Quinn cared about what Rachel thought of her, or anything, and even if Rachel thought about her like that, Quinn was absolutely _not_ a lesbian so it didn't matter if Rachel had a pathetic crush on her or not.

Nope. It didn't matter at all, which was why she spent the whole car ride to Finn's house stewing about it.

Finn was frowning with concentration as he parallel parked in front of his house when he finally worked up the courage to mumble "You didn't have to be so mean. It's raining and stuff, I -_we_, could have given Rachel a ride. It's on the way probably, or it's close enough. I mean, Lima isn't huge."

Quinn unsnapped her seat belt, and opened the door. Guilt and anger and shame churned within her. It took her a moment to answer, and she finally decided on, "I just bet you want to give Rachel a _ride._ Excuse me if I didn't want to watch man hands flirt with you while you pretend you aren't enjoying it," she hissed, punctuating her statement with slamming the door to his truck.

She stomped up the crumbling cement path to the Hudson's front door, and she could hear Finn stomping just as much on the wet cement, easily catching up with her.

She ignored him as she shimmed out of her wet coat, hanging it neatly on the tacky over the door hooks.

"How was school dear? Quinn?" Mrs. Hudson called, coming in. She was dressed in her scrubs -she worked nights as a nursing assistant while she finished school to be a real nurse, and gave them both a smile. Without waiting for an answer, she added, "I want you both to fill out those job applications and drop them off after school tomorrow. Clean up after you make dinner, I also need the carpets vacuumed and laundry done...Quinn..." Mrs. Hudson trailed off, giving Quinn a good look. Whatever she decided to say, she didn't. Instead, she grabbed her purse, gave Finn a kiss on his cheek, and called out goodbye as she left.

"Um, so do you want to vacuum or do laundry?" Finn asked.

Quinn glared at him, "Maybe if this house had good carpet, not whatever your mom found in the dumpster after the elementary school renovated, it wouldn't need to be vacuumed all the time."

"Quinn, that's not nice," Finn sounded whiny.

"Whatever Finn. _Your_ baby is making me tired and cranky. I'll go make us a predinner snack, okay? And when you're doing laundry, remember to get the sheets off your bed please." Of course, Finn's bed only had one set of sheets. They were a little scratchy, a little threadbare and not at all like the nice ones that Quinn had for her bed in the Fabray home. Almost four nights of sleeping on Finn's lumpy bed was nearly enough to make her cry when she compared it to her bed -as if she, being kicked out of her home, pregnant, and left to fend for herself, didn't have enough reasons to cry.

"But I just washed those a few weeks ago."

She didn't bother to answer him, just gave him a 'You're being stupid' look. She tried not to shudder as she realized for the past four nights she'd been sleeping in Finn's _dirty_ lumpy bed.

"Um, okay sorry."

Quinn let out a huff of annoyance, and went into the kitchen.

It was a fifth of the size of the kitchen at her home. It was dumpy and ugly and cramped. She hated it; had always hated it. Before she got pregnant, when she was half heartedly planning on being Mrs. Finn Hudson one day, doomed to live in the Hudson house after they got married, the kitchen was the first thing she'd renovate, with the hideous green fridge the first thing to go.

Of course, that was before she realized that she didn't _want _to stay in Lima. And now, with the baby...she closed her eyes for a minute, wishing she could stop being so indecisive.

She made them separate bowls of popcorn, having learned when she first started dating Finn -and was that only since June? that sharing with Finn was a terrible idea.

He was playing video games when she went to find him.

"Here. Shouldn't you do what your mom wanted?" She settled into the couch next to him, picking at her bowl of popcorn as Finn started shoveling his popcorn in his mouth without taking his eyes off the TV.

"Nah, I'll do it later," he muttered, sending little bits of popcorn onto the floor.

Quinn closed her eyes, and wondered how she ended up here, listening to the sound of gunfire and zombie moans and Finn's muttered cursing.

* * *

_She twirled in the water, the sensation of weightlessness sending joy through her. The water was crystal clear, she could easily see the sandy bottom below her, and the blue sky above._

_She was happy._

_Smiling, she looked up at the blue sky above her, holding her hands up towards the light. She starting swimming up, wanting suddenly to feel the sun on her face._

_She wasn't moving. Frowning, she swam harder. She needed to reach the light. _

_She couldn't breath, couldn't reach the surface._

_Panicking, she opened her mouth to scream and her teeth fell out, floating away as she wasted the last of her air._

Pregnancy made her dreams weird.

She didn't think the fact that Finn's bed had slightly damp sheets helped any -even over night hadn't totally dried them, and she woke up feeling gross. The sheets were damp because Finn had taken too long to put the laundry in the dryer last night. She could not fathom sleeping on the bare mattress when Finn had suggested it, and had been so angry she'd burst into tears.

Finn had held his mom's hair dryer against them while she cried to get them tolerable. She'd cried herself to sleep that night. That didn't mean much, considering she'd cried herself to sleep every night she'd been in the Hudson's house, and more than a few nights before that.

Finn was a sweet boy and he didn't deserve to put up with her.

She was distracted through first period. People were whispering about her, which wasn't new. Karofsky leered at her in the halls -also not new. The hockey idiots seemed to take great pride in dating Cheerios, and stealing Cheerios from the football idiots. Karofsky had been after her since she'd made Cheerio Captain last year.

Rachel isn't in their Algebra 2 class.

Quinn doesn't see her at lunch -she usually didn't, unless she purposely tried to find Rachel and say something mean to her. She hasn't done that in a few weeks though, not since she was kicked off the Cheerios.

Santana makes a point of ignoring Quinn and flirting with Puck and Finn in Spanish class.

Rachel isn't in their World History class either. Quinn didn't think too much about it, she was too busy running to the bathroom to throw up or pee, to the annoyance of their teacher.

Seventh period came and went, and soon Quinn was exhaustedly dragging herself to their glee club meeting. Mr. Schue had declared they'd do extra long extra practices on Friday's, until sectionals were over.

Quinn wanted to go home.

She couldn't. So she'd settle for _Finn's _home.

Maybe she'd talk Mrs. Hudson into buying his bed a new set of sheets.

She's thinking about what shade of pink she'd pick and anticipating how soft and nice they'd be, exhaustion forgotten, when she slid into her chair next to Finn.

Rachel's late. And good lord above, does Quinn hate the fact that she noticed, that she's taken note of Rachel's absence in their shared classes at all.

She's not the only one who has noticed. Mercedes is watching the door like a hawk, a contemplative look of glee on her face -a gleeful look Kurt shared next to her. They kept whispering to each other and with Tina, and unlike last practice weren't making it obvious they were talking about Quinn.

"Man hands _wants_ us talking about her," Santana said, then started filing her nails, "And I vote if she doesn't get here soon, she doesn't get to talk until after sectionals and she has to wear a paper bag on her head every glee club meeting."

Quinn kinda assumed Rachel was going to breeze into the room dramatically after Mr. Schue showed up and started talking. Rachel would excitedly be telling them some harrowing tale about how she skipped school today to badger a vocal teacher to come talk to them or something like that.

Puck snorted, "Berry wouldn't last an hour without talking."

"I think it'd be really mean to sew Rachel's mouth shut," Brittany said frowning, prompting Santana to start whispering rapidly to her.

Quinn stood up to go to the bathroom again. When she returned, just as she was about to sit down, Mr. Schue entered the room, his face creased with worry.

Behind him were two uniformed police officers.

He stepped aside to let them stand by him, and said quietly, "The police officers are here to speak to everyone; no one's in any trouble..." he trailed off, "Rachel's parents a report, she never came home yesterday... Rachel, well, she's missing."

* * *

**A/N: **I was going to wait to post this, but I changed my mind; I don't anticipate this story affecting Dead Girls as I've been working on it concurrently I've been working on both of those stories. It's gone through a lot of changes since the first version -that goodness for rough drafts!

This is a one sided Faberry fic. The main focus of this story will be Quinn growing up, how she and other characters are affected (through Quinn's POV) by Rachel's disappearance, and about Quinn attempting (poorly at first) to solve the mystery of "What happened to Rachel Berry?" Quinn's not a super nice person, and is a teenager; she's not going to say or act perfectly or always do the right thing.

Quinn is hella gay, as you can see in the first line of the story, even if she'll take a while to truly accept it and unpack her issues -she will not be in a romantic relationship with Finn or Puck. Puck is going to be present in this story a lot, though, enough that I felt the need to include him in the characters.

**If you absolutely**_** need**_** to have spoilers about Rachel before you decide to read the rest of the story, I totally understand.** Please feel free to either PM me or leave a review specifically asking for Rachel spoilers, and I will definitely tell you. All I ask is that you don't mention them in any future reviews, just to avoid possibly spoiling someone who does not wish to be spoiled.

Please let me know what you think! :)


	2. Day 2

This doesn't seem real.

This _isn't_ real.

Rachel hired these two, to pretend to be officers.

"We have Ms. Berry's schedule," the younger of the two police officers says, a pretty woman with a severe pixie cut, "Who shared her last class?"

Finn, Santana, and Puck all raised their hand. Brittany starts to raise hers, but Santana gently shoves it down.

Her partner, a scruffy looking man who looked like he was a little older than Mr. Schue's age, nods and pulls out a notebook.

Quinn zones out as she focuses on the weird feeling she's getting in the pit of her stomach.

Any minute now Rachel would appear, singing, and throwing flirty looks at Finn that would make Quinn want to claw his eyes out.

Glad she figured out Rachel's plan, she put a bored sneer on her face and answered the questions the officers asked them with a tone that let them know she was onto Rachel's bullshit.

Something in Finn snaps at her third answer in the same tone.

He stands up, and stares down at her, hard.

"This is your fault Quinn! Rachel's gone, and it's your fault! You are such a_ bitch_, you couldn't even let me give her a ride and now she's gone!"

Tears well up in her eyes.

Hormones.

"I bet you want to give Rachel a ride," Santana says, snorting. They're on the same page, obviously, that Rachel's faking all this. Quinn isn't sure how she feels about Santana having the exact same thought she'd had yesterday or that clearly she wasn't the only one that noticed Rachel and Finn were into each other.

Blinking back the tears, she stared at Finn hard, "Excuse me if I didn't want to see another girl giving my boyfriend, that father of my baby," she knows Puck's keeping himself from saying anything at her words even without looking at him, "_googly_ eyes while I'm right there," she snapped icily.

"It was..._raining_," Finn slumped into a chair, and put his hands on his face.

Quinn blinks back more tears.

Stupid hormones.

The male officer jots more scribbles into his notebook, while the female one gazes at them, one by one.

"I think it's time we start the one on one interviews," she finally says after a moment too long.

* * *

"She hired you," Quinn said immediately after she has settled uncomfortably in a chair in Mr. Schue's dinky office, staring at the female officer, "I'm not falling for it."

Mr. Schue ran a hand through his hair but doesn't say anything. Quinn wondered if he suspected the same thing. He clothes are rumpled and wrinkled, and there's light bags under his eyes and he's looking at her in a way that made her want to throw an ice cold slushie on him.

"I assure you, Ms. Fabray, that we are real police officers, and that Rachel Berry is missing," the male officer says gently.

Quinn shook her head, "No. No she's not."

"Quinn," Mr. Schue said softly, his eyes watering.

Fat tears well up and fall from her eyes.

This was her fault.

Rachel was missing, and Quinn was one hundred percent to blame.

* * *

She'd answered the questions the officers asked her robotically, and had curled up in a corner of the Glee club room sobbing hard while everyone finished going into the room one by one to answer their own questions. Finally, they were allowed to leave and it was a somber, quiet group.

Finn's silent over dinner; he didn't speak to her at all on the walk to the parking lot or the ride to his house. Mrs. Hudson is quiet too, darting the occasional worried look at Finn as they ate.

Quinn's exhausted. She wants to lay down, and go to sleep early, but she's got a ton of homework to do, and she wants -no, she_ needs_, Finn to not be upset with her anymore.

Somehow, if Finn wasn't mad at her, she could forgive herself.

So, she offers to help him with the dishes, and Mrs. Hudson, with the senses that most mothers have, leaves them alone to it.

Finn won't speak to her. He just silently hands her a dish to dry.

He's holding onto the last plate, and Quinn is fighting the urge to scream. Something inside her is telling her that if Finn doesn't forgive her now, he never will.

"Finn, talk to me. Please," she hates the desperation in her voice.

If Finn tells her it's okay, that it's not Quinn's fault, she might believe it. She might forgive herself for being such a jealous bitch that she couldn't let Rachel get a ride home.

"If you weren't pregnant with my baby Quinn," Finn says down to the sink of hot water, refusing to look at her, "Then I wouldn't put up with you. You aren't a good person."

He's confirmed something deep down inside in her that she always knew. The words slip out in a whisper. "It's Puck's baby."

Finn drops the dish, and it shatters on the floor. "You had _sex?_ With my _best friend_?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," Quinn whimpered, tears welling at her eyes, "I didn't mean for it to happen. I just...I felt fat, and Puck had wine coolers and Rachel and..."

Tears welled in Finn's eyes, and he rubbed at them angrily. "Get out," he whispered.

"Finn, please," Quinn doesn't want him to be like this, so sad about Rachel and now the baby. He should be relieved, that the baby and Quinn aren't his problem, that he's not a teen dad.

"Get out!" Finn turned, and punched the wall, sending it vibrating hard enough to send a few things on the wall crashing to the floor.

Mrs. Hudson came running in, "What's going on?"

"Quinn's a lying, cheating _slut _who ...because of her Rachel's _gone_," Finn glared at Quinn, "Quinn's leaving_." _

* * *

Isn't it not quite ironic, that she's been kicked out of two homes in less than a week. There's something about her that uses people and is cruel to people and doesn't deserve anything good ever.

She lugged her things in heavy trash bags to Puck's house, and a part of her almost wishes that whoever it was that took Rachel, took her too.

_Quinn pounded on the trunk's ceiling, kicking at it uselessly with her flats, wishing she wore boots. _

_She screamed and tried to pull tail lights out because she'd heard, somewhere, that if you were ever locked in a trunk you should do that so that car would get pulled over. _

_She couldn't find any wires in the dark, and eventually stilled, waiting. _

_Finally, the car stops. The trunk opens, and the black clad figure -wearing a ski mask, gestures for her to get out. _

_Dazed, she stares at her surroundings as she's roughly lead to a basement. The door is opened, and she's shoved in. There's a flickering bare bulb shining light through the empty basement. _

_Almost empty -in the corner, in a pile of blankets (because it's chilly) there's a shaken Rachel. Rachel looks a little worse for wear, but nothing a hot shower and her own bed won't cure._

_Rachel stares open mouthed at Quinn, then dramatically wipes away a tear. _

_"Oh Quinn, you were taken too? Oh no, I hope they haven't harmed the baby." _

_"The baby's fine," Quinn gazes down at Rachel, then offers her hand, "And I'm going to get us out of here and get you home." _

_Rachel clutches at Quinn's side, beaming up at her with the same look she used to give Finn. _

* * *

No one takes her.

She's as disappointed as she is relieved.

Damp from the rain, utterly exhausted by now, and practically starving despite eating dinner not too long ago, she knocked on the Puckerman's door.

She hoped Puck is home, because she needs to warn him tonight that Finn knows. Her phone's service was canceled, otherwise she would have texted him.

She doesn't blame Carole for not giving her a ride.

At least, she doesn't blame her _that _much.

Mrs. Puckerman opens the door, and frowns down at Quinn.

"Um," Quinn doesn't even begin to know how to do this, and she wished Puck was here and could handle it. She finally, after too long, settled on, "Is Puck home?"

"Noah," and Quinn winces because she's only heard Rachel call him that, "Is at a friend's house. I can take a message, or I suppose you can just text him."

"My phone's dead..." Quinn trails off awkwardly, not wanting to explain her dad had canceled her service. She's off balance at the unexpected hiccup in her plan. Finally, swallowing whatever pride she had left, she said, "I'm pregnant, and Puck's the father. I got kicked out of my house..." Quinn shrewdly decides it'd be wise to not mention how she told Finn he was the father and got kicked out of his house too. Getting kicked out of two houses in less than a week seems like a bad way to start the conversation or make a good impression.

Mrs. Puckerman sighed, like she's been expecting this to happen eventually, and says "Well, that's unfortunate. I suppose you want to stay here."

Quinn nods, and steps forward, dragging her trash bags of belongings with her.

She's certain she's as low as she's ever going to be.

At least until Mrs. Puckerman doesn't budge to let Quinn inside.

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Puckerman doesn't look sorry to Quinn, "I'm barely making enough to take care of Sarah and Puck. Puck helps, a little, and I'll make sure he does his part with you Quinn, but I just can't take on another person and then a baby."

Quinn doesn't know what to say, so she just stares at the door mat, trying not to cry or scream.

"I can give you a ride, you're probably exhausted and... well, it's just not a good idea for anyone to be out by themselves," Mrs. Puckerman offered. Quinn can't do anything but tiredly nod, still staring at the ground, knowing if she looks at Mrs. Puckerman's face she was going to burst into tears.

Mrs. Puckerman helps her take her pitiful belongings to her station wagon.

* * *

Quinn doesn't have anyone.

She spends the first five minutes of the drive trying to think of someone she could stay with; she was enemy number one with Brittany's parents, who seemed to think pregnancy was catching and she was a bad influence on Brittany.

She was, but not like that.

Her friendship with Santana was like a tide, it ebbed in and out.

Right now, it was out.

Santana would still let Quinn stay with her, at least for the night, but Quinn knew she'd lose the constant battle, a battle Quinn was barely keeping at a draw, that they were in if Quinn asked.

None of the other Cheerio's would talk to her, on Sue's orders. Coach Sue was still too disappointed in Quinn for Quinn to consider her.

Her sister had hung up on her the one-time Quinn had called her since their parents kicked her out.

She could _probably_ talk one of the Gleeks into letting her stay, but with her phone dead she didn't know where anyone lived.

So, when Mrs. Puckerman asks where they were going, Quinn directs her to the cheapest motel in Lima.

Mrs. Puckerman frowns as she parks, but she doesn't stop Quinn from getting out.

She doesn't help Quinn with her stuff, either.

* * *

Even with how seedy the hotel is, they won't rent a room to Quinn. And Mrs. Puckerman had already driven away by the time it was clear to Quinn this wasn't going to work without her.

She drags her stuff with her to a nearby Denny's. At least she could still use the internet with the free wifi there, and she nibbled on all you can eat pancakes so they couldn't kick her out. She looked at apartments on craigslist. She had no idea how to convince a landlord to rent to her -maybe she could lie and say she was emancipated? Would they check?

She didn't have much money anyway and what she did have wasn't going to last that long without the goodwill of Mrs. Hudson.

She was ignoring the fact that the two bedrooms were only a little more expensive than the one bedroom.

Nope.

It wasn't happening then, it wasn't for sure now.

Nope.

She'd never get out of Lima.

And -

The low hum of activity in the restaurant quieted, and Quinn looked up from her phone at the tv mounted in a corner.

It was the Berry's, appealing for Rachel's return, and offering a reward if anyone had any information.

They looked like they'd aged ten years since the last time Quinn had seen them. Last week, in the parking lot after Glee club when they were picking up Rachel.

Quinn set her phone down, and stared unblinking at the tv screen as it repeated the plea from Rachel's Dads (apparently it was from this afternoon) along with a recap of what they knew about Rachel. No. Not Rachel, her _case_.

One of Rachel's shoes had been found.

That was it.

That was all they had.

Once the segment switched, Quinn stared at her barely visible baby bump.

Maybe it was hormones, maybe it was just her being sixteen, but she knew deep into her soul it was the right choice.

She wasn't hungry anymore and pushed away the almost empty plate.

She was keeping her baby.

It was stupid, it was going to be hard, but she had to do it.

It was selfish, but she knew, deep down, that she would feel like how the Berry's felt right now if she gave her baby away. Her whole life.

* * *

She sat in the Denny's all night. The bored waitress who had her section hadn't kicked her out, even after Quinn had dozed off a few times in the booth. She'd just kept refilling Quinn's ice tea and bringing Quinn more pancakes when asked, without a word beyond an "Okay hun."

Quinn was going to tip her the entire amount of the bill, just because she'd been so nice to Quinn. Of course, Quinn's bill was only seven dollars but still.

Quinn sick of pancakes at this point, but eggs and bacon are out of her price range. She sighed and started moving slowly towards the end of the booth to take another pee break when she froze. She recognized two voices that entered the building talking to each other.

Santana and Brittany.

How she could forget that Santana and Brittany had breakfast here every Saturday morning?

"Quinn?" Brittany zeroed in on her, then frowned as she stared at Quinn, taking in Quinn's 'I stayed in Denny's all night' glory.

"You look like shit," Santana snorted, then frowned too.

"She's been here all night," the waitress called out, adding, "You can seat yourselves."

"Thanks Alice!" Brittany smiled and waved at the waitress, and Quinn shot Alice a glare for ratting her out.

"All night Quinn? What, did Finn's mom get tired of you eating all their food already?" Santana smirked, and slid into the seat in front of her.

Quinn swallowed, looking down at the table, "I told him he wasn't the father. That Puck was. I wasn't welcome any more."

"And Puck wouldn't let you stay with him?" Santana snarled, "He's a dick."

"He wasn't home. Mrs. Puckerman wouldn't let me stay." Quinn looked up, "You aren't mad that Puck and ...I?"

Santana shrugged, "I'd broken up with him; if you want my leftovers, whatever. I was thinking about sexting him though -you know my sexts are too hot to ignore, are we going to have a problem?" Santana flipped her hair and looked at Quinn expectantly.

Quinn shook her head, "Sext him or date him again, I don't care. We aren't together, we aren't going to be together."

Santana nodded.

"Are you going to live at Denny's Quinn? Because I don't think they'd like a crying baby in the restaurant twenty-four seven," Brittany asked, smiling at Alice as she brought to the table, what Quinn assumed was, Brittany & Santana's regular orders.

"Can I get a side of bacon and eggs?" Quinn asked quietly, "And the bill." Alice nodded, and Quinn sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do Brittany."

"Why didn't you call one of us?" Brittany asked around a mouth full of strawberry milkshake.

"My parents turned my service off. And your parents hate me. And Santana...I just..."

"Couldn't admit you needed help," Santana snorted, then leaned backwards and stared at Quinn, "If worse comes to worse, I'll hide you in my garage, okay?"

Tears flooded Quinn's eyes, and she blinded them away. Santana didn't do emotions, this was as much as Quinn was getting from her, and if she started full out crying Santana would probably start hard core mocking her.

"I...one of the girls in the Unwed Mothership Connection, Mack...she said her parents were out of town for a few weeks. I think she'd let me stay with her, just while I figured out what I'm going to do. We're friendly enough -she offered up the use of her family's lawyer to anyone who needed one, so I think she'll help me," Quinn shoved her plate of bacon and eggs towards the middle of the table, not hungry any more

"Do you know where she lives? We'll give you a ride," Santana didn't look up from her phone.

"Yeah, it's that huge brick house in your neighborhood," Quinn muttered.

Santana snorted, "Really? You're going to end up staying in my garage -the man that lives there, must be her dad, once asked Papa how much he charged for lawn care because they needed a new gardener when Papa was out working with Mama's roses."

Quinn got her bacon and eggs to go.

Santana insisted on paying Quinn's bill and her planned tip to the waitress.

* * *

She left her things in Santana's SUV with Santana and Brittany and walked up the long path to the front door of Mack's house alone.

Quinn knocked tentatively, mentally preparing her speech.

All the words flew from her head when a tall, thin, blonde woman wearing an apron and a sour look on her face opened the door.

"Uh, is Mack home?"

The woman stared at Quinn, up and down, and -looking like she smelled something awful and she probably did, said, "Miss Anastasia is the pool house, unpacking. You may go around and knock on her door."

Then she closed the door in Quinn's face.

Fury replaced her nervousness, and gave her a boast of energy, and Quinn stomped around the house, making sure to step on some flowers.

She walked past the pool, noting with some satisfaction that Santana's pool was bigger, and knocked briskly on what she assumed was the pool house door -it looked exactly like the big house, except it was much smaller, and only one story.

"Quinn?" Mack said once she opened the door and looked at Quinn confused. Quinn could hear AC/DC playing behind her.

"That woman is awful," Quinn growled as Mack stepped aside to let her in.

"Who, Vivian? Tall blonde, grumpy look on her face? She's the housekeeper, and she's got a bug up her butt about the fact that Mom and Dad gave me the pool house to live in instead of kicking...me out," Mack finished slowly, clearly having remembered that's exactly what happened to Quinn.

"That's why I'm here...I'm sorry for imposing on you, but my boyfriend, _ex_-boyfriend, I told him that -well, he's not the father of my baby. And I have nowhere to stay. I was in Denny's all last night."

"And you want to crash here with me?" Mack said cocking her head to the side.

"Not for long. I swear," Quinn swallowed the last of her pride, "I just...you offered your lawyer to the other girls and me, and...I thought…"

Mack closed the door, and turned to Quinn, not answering.

Quinn swallowed hard -now wasn't the time to cry and looked around. The pool house was small, with an open floor layout. There were boxes everywhere, and it still smelled like fresh paint -the walls were bright white, with one wall in the living room a brilliant turquoise color.

"I offered the family lawyer because we pay a ton each month on retainer for her, may as well give her something to do. We're in the town's Unwed Mothership Connection together Quinn, but we _aren't_ friends," Mack looked at her seriously, "You never talk in the meetings, you never share, or talk about the future or anything. I know the basics about you -former head Cheerio, moved to Lima the summer before your Freshman year, and you're worried your baby will get a weird bump on their nose you and your sister both had shaved off as soon as you were old enough. That's it. Oh, and you have no idea if you'll keep your baby or not."

Quinn blinked back tears, and whispered, "I'm keeping her. For sure."

"I'm pretty sure you've told us that like four times now," Mack said matter-of-factly.

Tears slipped out of Quinn's eyes, and Mack sighed, "Look, I don't care if you keep your baby or not, that's up to you. Being a teenage mom isn't going to be a walk in the park. I'm not going to judge you if you decide to put the baby up for adoption or get an abortion."

"I am not a baby _killer_," Quinn glared at Mack, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Oh, add another thing to list of things I know about Quinn Fabray -prolife." Mack said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Quinn wiped the tears away from her fact, and set her shoulders back, "I'm sorry for bothering you at home Mack, I'll see you at the next meeting." She turned to leave, feeling tired and sad, and wondering how long Santana would be able to hide her in the garage before her parents found out when Mack gently gripped her wrist.

"Look, you can stay -but you're going to have to pull the prissy head cheerleader stick out of your ass and be_ real_ with me. I want to know three things about you that no one else knows, Quinn."

Quinn turned, and with a raised eye brow, after taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, said, "Fine. I sleep -or slept, with a stuffed wolf I've had since a child. Her name was Ms. Frizzle after the Magic School Bus character. My paternal grandfather gave her to me right before he and my grandmother died in a car accident when I was ten."

"Okay. But I bet your friends know that, Quinn. I'm talking something deeper. Okay?"

Quinn glared at her, "What if I don't have any deep dark secrets Mack."

"Everyone has deep dark secrets, Quinn, even if they won't admit them to themselves."

Quinn grit her teeth, "Fine. Before we moved here, my name was Lucy -Quinn's my middle name. I was fat, had bad hair that I dyed myself to my mother's mortification because I thought I'd be able to get out from under my sister's shadow if we didn't have the same hair color, wore glasses, and hated myself. The kids at school called me Lucy Caboosey."

"I cannot picture that at all Quinn," Mack said after whistling.

"If I had my old yearbook I could show you."

Mack nodded, "Okay. Two more."

Quinn closed her eyes, exhaustion running through her, "I'm why Rachel Berry is missing. She asked Finn and I for a ride home, and I said no."

"That's...that's not your fault. At all," Mack said quietly. Quinn's eyes were still closed, she had no idea what Mack actually felt -Quinn knew she was guilty. It was guilt and knowing that it was the only other thing she had that would satisfy Mack's requirements that made her admit this out loud, and she licked her lips, and continued, "I said no because I didn't want to watch her drool over my boyfriend. Not because he was my boyfriend, but because...I wanted her to be my girlfriend. And I hate us both for it."

Just saying that felt like a small weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She opened her eyes, to see Mack looking at her quizzically. Then Mack snorted, "Alright."

"That's it? Alright?"

Mack raised an eyebrow at her, "What, do you want me to stone you or something? Geeze, your parents have done a number on you, it's probably good they aren't going to be around your baby. Look, it's 2009. People are gay, it isn't a big deal. I hate labels, but if I had to label myself it'd be kinda bi. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No." Even if it was, Quinn would rather be here then hiding in Santana's garage.

Mack nodded, and grabbed her keys off "Right, let's go get your stuff. And Quinn, seriously, you aren't to blame for whatever some creep did to Rachel. Really."

Quinn shrugged. Quinn's feet felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each, and Quinn's more than ready to sleep.

Mack sighed. "We'll talk more about that later, because you obviously need too. Anyway, you're going to have to figure out what you're going to do. You need money, a place to live -my parents are going to be home in a few weeks, so you've got a month, _maybe_ six weeks. You need a _plan_. Are you going to drop out of school, get your GED, and go to college? That's what I'm doing. By the time my baby is born, I'll have a semester of college under my belt."

"When's your baby due?"

Mack snorted, "You really don't pay attention during the meetings, do you? Late June. You're due a few weeks ahead of me."

Quinn nodded, "Sorry. I'll be better, I promise." It wasn't just a promise to Mack -it was a promise to her baby. She had to be better for her, failure was not acceptable.

"Anyway," Mack said after a pregnant pause, "Of course, my parents are letting me live in the pool house for free and are still going to pay for everything, including college." She shrugged, "You've got a lot of thinking and planning to do. I'll help where I can, but..." she trailed off as they got closer to Santana's SUV.

"Uh, Santana?" Quinn called when she realized the SUV was empty. Panic went through her -what if Santana had been listening to her talk to Mack?

Brittany's head popped up from the backseat, followed quickly by a disheveled looking Santana.

"We were doing homework," Santana said quickly, giving Quinn a hard look.

Quinn was exhausted, but she still managed a raised eyebrow and a grin as she said, "Anatomy homework?"

Before Santana or Brittany could answer, Quinn turned to Mack, "This is Brittany and Santana," pointing to each girl respectively, "My best friends. Santana, Brittany, this is Mack. I can stay here."

Santana opened the car door, flipping her hair, "Good. The thought of you living in a corner of my garage was making Brittany sad."

"Not as sad as Rachel being missing is though," Brittany added as she hopped out of the SUV.

For a second, Quinn had forgotten.

Her grin faltered, and she wiped at her eyes, swallowing the urge to cry again.

"Yeah, I heard that whoever took her is telling her dads to sell the house and move before they'll give her back," Mack said as she pulled on of Quinn's bags out.

"I heard it was Jacob Ben Israel," Santana said, tucking her shirt back into her jeans and giving Quinn a glare.

"I hope she's found soon," Brittany said.

"Me too," Quinn whispered.

Once everything Quinn owned was in Mack's pool house, and she'd taken a shower then curled up on Mack's bed to take a nap -both at Mack's insistence, was when Quinn finally let herself sob.


End file.
